Officials: Protect water lines from cold

With temperatures soon to dip below freezing, Assistant City Manager Todd Darden said local residents can protect their property — and more to the point, their water lines — by taking precautions.

“That means leaving your hot and cold water dripping just enough to keep the pipes from freezing, as well as insulating any exterior pipes or fixtures,” said Darden.

“We also suggest that people take old newspaper or towels and stuff it in their meter boxes to help keep them from freezing. The boxes are underground, but they still sit in a void, so they are susceptible to the freezing temperatures and could burst.”

Darden said area residents should also remember to insulate any sewer lines that are above ground or not buried at a safe depth, which would be 12 inches to 18 inches.

“If people don’t take precautions, I expect we’ll be handling quite a few emergency water cut-offs,” he said.

Darden said freezing temperatures can also cause numerous breaks in the city’s main water lines — deemed “Code Blue” by city officials — something he’s hoping to avoid.

“As long as the temperature warms up gradually, we should be OK,” said Darden. “However, if the warmer weather comes back quicker than we’re expecting, we could certainly see a lot more main breaks in the city.”